THE AMAZING SCIENCE & BEAUTY OF TEXTURE NOW

Texture is more important than you might think. Not just aesthetically or experientially, but, it can also play a critical functional role. A recent development in bioengineering takes the power and beauty of texture to a whole new level.

Cephalopods can readily change the color and texture of their skin to camouflage themselves. And now, using principles of biomimicry, engineers have replicated this capability, to create surface materials that can also adapt their color and texture in reaction to certain stimuli.

Just as some species of squid, octopus, and cuttlefish, change their appearance by flexing muscles, changing the shape of their small pigment sacs, researchers at MIT, led by engineering professor Xuanhe Zhao, have created an elastomer material that changes shapes in response to voltage variances.

The material at first appears smooth and translucent, but when voltage is applied, it becomes bumpy and the color changes to a dark, fluorescent blue. Zhao believes this technology can be developed to elicit more precise and complex adaptations.

Changing color and texture gives cephalopods an edge, helping them to blend into their surroundings, as they settle down beside a rock, or spread over a patch of fine sand.

One of the most exciting aspects of the new discovery is how easily it could enter mass production and can easily be adapted to manufacturing techniques that are already widely used.

One application that shows promise could be a boon for the shipping industry. By changing the texture of a ship’s hull, from smooth to bumpy, for even a short amount of time, over 90% of barnacles and other biological fouling could be removed, thus improving the efficiency of passage through the water. 

Zhao sees potential for the elastomer in television and smartphone screens, flexible displays, and military camouflage.

The current version can be set to change texture and fluorescence, or texture and color, and is limited to only a handful of colors. As researchers make improvements, it will become possible to simultaneously change all three attributes, as smoothly as a squid does it, and to utilize a more dynamic range of hues.

Read more about Beautiful Textures, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including The Beauty & Necessity of Texture Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Feans. Polbo / Octopus.
2. Image: by Daedalus_23. Octopus.
3. Image: by Tom Weilenmann. Blue Ringed Octopus.
4. Image: by mariusz kluzniak. Cuttlefish la rochelle aquarium.
5. Image: by Feans. Polbo / Octopus.
6. Image: by Joe Parks. Key West Octopus.
7. Image: by Doug Finney. Octopus.
8. Image: by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Still from Synthetic Squid Skin video.
9. Image: by Albert kok. Octopus vulgaris.
10. Image: by Rob. Big Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens).
11. Image: by Smithsonian's National Zoo. National Zoo’s Elderly Giant Pacific Octopus.
12. Image: by BN App - Download now!
13. Image: by Jeff Fleming. Squidy.